Such long known projectiles, for example steel jacket projectiles, have a jacket of steel and a projectile core or respectively a projectile body made of hardened lead or, with so-called tipped projectiles, a projectile core or respectively a projectile body of steel. Other projectiles, such as the hard core projectiles used for antitank operations, for example, consist of a very hard and heavy armor-piercing projectile or respectively armored core and a coat of soft steel. Projectiles are also known, whose jacket consists at least partially of a suitable plastic material.
With some of these projectiles, wherein as a rule the projectile body fills the entire jacket, variations in shape or size of the core or respectively of the projectile body of the identical caliber or respectively jacket are hardly possible. Other projectiles, by means of which it would be possible to equip identical jackets with different projectile bodies and in this way to obtain different projectiles, are comparatively expensive to produce.
For example, French patent publication FR 1 242 187 describes a projectile with a projectile body, a jacket consisting of a projectile tip and a projectile casing fastened on the exterior of the projectile tip, and a sealing body closing off the jacket at the rear and extending around the rear area of the projectile body. The diameter of the projectile body is approximately zeppelin-shaped, which means that initially it increases from the front to the back and decreases again later. It is therefore not possible to first produce the jacket and to subsequently equip it with the projectile core, which would be desirable for producing the same jackets in large series in order to subsequently produce different projectiles from them by equipping them with different projectile bodies. In particular, it is not possible to produce the projectile tip by injection molding.
A projectile is known from French patent publication FR 812 377, in connection with which it would be possible to equip the same jackets with different projectile cores, depending on the intended use. This projectile has a projectile body, centered at the front by a ring, and a jacket surrounding it, which is closed at the back by a metallic sealing body which extends around the projectile body in its rear area. The sealing body is intended above all to constitute additional mass, i.e. should be correspondingly heavy, and therefore must be made of metal. The jacket comprises the projectile tip and the projectile casing formed integrally with the projectile tip, and is also made of metal. The disadvantage of this projectile essentially lies in that its manufacture is comparatively elaborate, particularly since the jacket and the sealing body are both made of metal, so that it is not possible to produce one of the two elements or both elements by injection molding.
A further projectile with a jacket and a projectile body is known from US Patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,196. The jacket consists of the projectile tip at the front, while the rear area of the jacket is formed by the sealing body which is simultaneously used for closing the jacket off at the rear. This sealing body is made of metal. This projectile does not have a projectile casing. Two centering rings are provided for centering the projectile core. The shaping would theoretically allow the equipping of the same type of jacket with different projectile bodies. But it would then be necessary to introduce the projectile bodies from the front into the jacket. But because of the structure having centering rings, injection molding of the projectile tip and thus a cost-effective manufacture would not be possible.
Finally, a projectile is known from French patent publication FR 2 238 137, whose projectile core is conical in its front half and cylindrical in its rear half. This projectile core is enclosed in a jacket. In principle, the shaping would permit the equipping of jackets of the same type with different projectile bodies from the rear and in this way the production of different projectiles. The jacket of this projectile is formed by a projectile tip made of an injectable material, more accurately of plastic, which is injection-molded on the metallic projectile casing. The rear opening of the jacket is closed by a closure or sealing body, which projects into the jacket and partially encloses the projectile core. In the front portion of the projectile, the outer surface of the jacket is constituted by the projectile tip, and in the rear portion of the projectile by the metallic sealing body.
In this respect the projectile is embodied the same as that of US Patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,196 but has, in contrast to the projectile of the said US Patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,196, a projectile casing. The projectile casing, which rests against the projectile body in its central area, does not lie against the outer surface of the jacket, but is only used to form an indirect screw connection between the projectile tip and the sealing body. A collar formed on the portion of the sealing body projecting into the jacket is mainly used as the centering device. The main disadvantage of this projectile lies in that its manufacture is elaborate for the following reason: the sealing body constitutes the rear portion of the outer surface of the jacket. Therefore a guide ring will have to be fastened on the sealing body, so that it becomes obvious to make the sealing body of metal. This has as a result that the centering arrangement which must have precise dimensions, must also be made of metal, all of which is connected with a comparatively large outlay.
In summary it must be said that none of the known projectiles meet the requirements mentioned above regarding the use of different projectile bodies, on the one hand, and simple manufacture, on the other.